Sade is actually the name of a person and a band.
Sade, the person, was born Helen Folasade Adu on
January 16, 1959 in Nigeria. While at Central Saint
Martins College of Art and Design in London, Sade
joined a Latin funk group called 'Arriva' and then a
Latin soul band called 'Pride' as a backup singer.
She performed with the band for 3 years and started
to get recognized for her performance of "Smooth Operator" during the set. This led
to a solo record deal with Epic Records in 1983 and
the creation of the band, Sade, along with 3 members
of 'Pride': guitarist and saxophonist Stuart
Matthewman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and bassist Paul
Spencer Denman. Sade has described herself as
enjoying songwriting and singing soulful music, but
never as the focus of impending fame or success. So,
when asked to sign a record deal, it had to include 3
of her band mates. Sade is often referred to as the
most successful British solo female artist with LP
sales topping 50 million worldwide.

Sade's musical style has been described as
"smoky faux-jazz." As Stephen Holden
observed in the New York Times, "...in
a pop climate obsessed with changing sounds and the
language of the street, Sade has shown herself to be
a pop classicist more interested in creating a
durable body of work than in keeping up... (her) best
songs find fresh images for expressing time-honored
sentiments and placing them in settings that distill
particular moods with a special intensity."

After the release of The
Best Of Sade, Sade took time off from recording to
focus on her marriage and child. Hale, Matthewman,
and Denman released the side project LP Sweetback (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).

Sade made the news when she failed to pull her car
over when asked by the police in Jamaica. She
reportedly cursed the officers as she was loaded in
to the squad car and taken to the station. Months
later, an arrest warrant for Sade was issued after
she failed to appear in court in Jamaica to face
charges of dangerous driving and disobeying a police
officer. Sade later stated that she was unable to
appear in court due to the hospitalization of her
child. Medical proof of her child's hospitalization
allowed the arrest warrant to be "stayed."

Sade remained in trouble with authorities in Jamaica
from charges stemming from last year of reckless
driving - an arrest warrant was issued after she did
not appear in court. Her lawyer stated that the
singer had previous engagements outside of the
country.

Sade released Soldier
Of Love
(available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3). Rolling Stone
described the LP as "...sumptuously melancholy,
exquisitely beautiful R&B, perfect for crying on
a very expensive sofa."
Sade topped the Billboard 200 LP chart, Top Digital
Albums chart, and Top R&B/Hip-Hop chart with Soldier
Of Lovewhich sold over 502,000 copies its first week of
release in the US.
Sade topped the LP charts in Belgium, Sweden,
Switzerland, Canada, Hungry, Italy, Poland, Portugal,
Spain, and France with Soldier
Of Love.
Sade topped the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart
with "Soldier Of Love."

Note: Song title and position
links lead you to the song's Top 40 chart run
(from the ARC Weekly Top 40) and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound samples).